Journey to the unknown
by Fade-sempai
Summary: Kakashi is sent on a mysterious mission to find an even more mysterious girl...but when he starts to fall for her things get...complicated KakashiOC R&R!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer- i do not own naruto, but i do own kirana shinnisuke, my original.

this is just a different way kirana and kakashi could have happened...an alternate way, you could say. same characters, but just a different setting...anyway, i like it way better than pain of love, and i hope you like it too. dont worry, ill still work on pol.

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"It really is a mission of epic proportions." Hokage said, trying to spark Kakashi's interest.

"What is it?" Kakashi asked indifferently.

"Well, there have been certain rumors in the east. Recently a request was made from a village, and they want us to investigate these…rumors…"

Kakashi sighed. He wished the Hokage would just come out with the mission. "What rumors?" He prompted.

"This is a very sensitive matter, which is why its so important that we send you, our number one ranking jounin."

"You flatter me. But I need to know about the mission in order to do a good job, sir." Kakashi said politely.

"Ah, of course." Hokage cleared his throat. "Well." He cleared his throat again. "The rumor is that a so-called dragon woman is terrorizing this village."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"Dragon…woman?"

"Yes. Why she's called that wasn't mentioned."

"Hmph, convenient." Kakashi murmured. He sighed. "right, well, a map to the village is included in this report, so I'll be on my way…"

"Wait, Kakashi!" Kakashi turned around.

"This information I'm about to tell you isn't included in that report you're holding, but it's very important." Hokage didn't wait for a response to this.

"This woman…they said that she is very beautiful. The village leader said she was capable of seducing a man with her first glance. Be careful, Hatake, don't underestimate this one."

"Don't worry, I wont fall prey to that." Kakashi said with a slight chuckle as he left.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

It took him the better part of five days to reach the village. Luckily, he had his faithful adult book, Come Come Paradise(volume 3), to keep him company on the road.

The first thing he did when he got there was seek out the leader of the village, who had submitted the request to the nearest ninja village, konohagakure, on behalf of his people.

"It's a great honor to have you here, sir!" He said, shaking Kakashi's gloved hand vigorously.

"It's a pleasure to be here. So, explain the situation, if you please."

"Ah of course, of course!" he sat down on a floor cushion and invited Kakashi to do the same.

"There's a woman we call the daragon woman. She lives up in the mountain that looka over our village" The man took a sip of tea he was holding. "You see, the mountain is one giant labyrinth of passages and caverns. It is said that the dragon woman has made her home in the very heart of this great maze." HE drank more tea. "More and more people enter the mountain everyday. mostly men but even some woman. Not one has every came out of there alive before, though we have had a few of their corpses float down the river."

"Have you tried not bothering her? Maybe she just wants to be left alone." Kakashi suggested.

The mans face darkened.

"Aye, you would think that." He took a deep swig of tea. Kakashi vaguely wondered if it was spiked, the way the guy was drinking it.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"We blocked off all the entrances to the mountain a year or so ago. We set up a watch and allowed no one entry." he sighed heavily.

"What happened after that?" Kakashi prompted.

"A week passed…we thought all was well…some of the villagers even began to party. That night the event happened."

"What event?"

"She attacked our village. That was the first and only time I've ever seen her." The man shivered.

"Don't leave anything out, Tell me everything you know about her."

"She had a symbol charred onto her head. I dont recall it exactly, but I think that something abot this mark drove her insane. She also had…tattoos or something all over her left arm, across her chest and shoulders, and onto her cheek." HE shivered again, and took another deep swig of tea. Yep, definitely spiked. "The scariest thing was none of the above. IT was her eyes…"

"Her eyes?"

"They were white, with only the tiniest trace of a pupil. And they were angry…so angry! Pain and angry were reflected in them. The clothes she wore were but rags." HE stared intently at Kakashi.

"I am no ninja, Kakashi-san. But I could feel the terrible power reverberating from her, I could almost see it, it was so thick, it filled me with fear. And also…also…"

"Also…?" Kakashi asked gently.

"She was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Despite all this, she was very beautiful."

"So I've heard. Well, I'd better go pay dragon girl a visit." Kakashi stood up and walked away.

"Be careful, Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi waved in response.

Kakashi climbed up the mountain with new purpose. The leaders words had troubled him greatly. HE wouldn't be sure until he saw the girl, but so far it was sounding more and more like a new form of a cursed seal. if that was the case, then there was a good chance this mission could end in tragey.

He hoped he wouldn't have to kill this woman.

The entrance to the mountain passages was almost completely hidden. It was a mere two and a half feet wide, and not even two meters tall. Kakashi had to bow his head to be able to fit through it.

The passage was surprisingly lined with torches, which he could only guess the villagers kept lit. As he neared the end of the lighted part, there was a sign, which Kakashi read aloud: "Beyond this point you are on your own. God have mercy on your soul."

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be fu. Hmm I wonder where I got that idea?" Kakashi muttered to himself sarcastically. He wrenched one of the torches off the wall and began to descend deeper into the mountain.

She woke with a start, staring at the entrance to one of the passages that began at this chanber. Echoes were reverberating down the walls of the passage. Footsteps.

A plus of her home, even if the intruder was making no noise, she would hear them miles off, that was just the way sound traveled within the mountain.

Very cautiously, she walked toward the tunnel and pressed her ear to the floor. _Still two miles or so away…_She thought. _Soon._

With a small smile she sat on her bed and waited.

_Maybe this time…they'll be the one to rescue me from this place…maybe…they'll be the one…_

Kakashi sighed at the seemingly endless tunnel. He was sure he'd been walking at least two miles already. If he didn't reach the source of the meek power he was sensing soon, his torch would go out,, and then he'd have to work in the dark. Kakashi did not like that idea at all.

Very suddenly there was light all around him. He covered his eye, trying to adjust to the light as quickly as possible. Squinting against the sudden light, he began to make out the shapes that were slowly coming into focus.

HE was in the mouth of a tunnel. Across the room, there was a woman staring at him with intense curiosity. She was sitting cross legged on a bed.

He studied her features. Yes, she was indeed beautiful, and her clothes _were _rags, but those were the only things that matched the village leaders description.

Her eyes were green ; incredibly bright green, and she was looking at him without a hint of anger. Her body was unmarked, not a single tattoo adorned it that he could see, and her forehead was smeared with dirt, but there was no burning mark. He couldn't see or sense any curse seal, either.

But he wasn't deceived. He wasn't going to make any theories yet, it was still too soon.

After several minutes of holding each others eyes , silently observing each other, the woman spoke.

"Your torch went out." Her voice was a little raspy, probably from lack of use. Kakashi looked down at the extinguished torch at his side.

"So it has." he began to advance into the chamber. After a few steps, she quickly stood up.

"Stay there. Don't make me take aggressive action."

Kakashi decided to play by whatever rules she laid down. He sat down on the floor and discarded the burnt out torch.

"Are you the one they call the dragon woman?" Kakashi asked.

"Ha, that would have to be me, but…they call me that?" She laughed slightly.

"Are you really her? the description I received doesn't fit you at all."

The girl approached him cautiously and squatted about five feet from him. Kakashi couldn't believe this woman has struck so much fear in the hearts of the townsfolk! She was just a timid, scared girl, driven to poverty beyond poverty by those…those…people! This was one of the most cruel scenarios Kakashi had ever seen.

"You're awfully brave to say that, you know. That makes me want to know what those townspeople's description of me was, if it doesn't fit. Tell me."

"Pushy, aren't you?"

"You're lucky, if you hadn't sparked my interest, not interest in you! I mean interest in what that grubby little village is saying about me!, I might have killed you already!"

Kakashi sighed.

"Tell me!"

"Said you had white eyes, tattoos all over you, a mark on your forehead, very powerful. None of that is true so far. I sense hardly any power emitting from you, just enough for me to tell you're alive. But the weren't lying about the fact that your clothes are rags."

Her eye twitched.

"Can I help that?! Everything I have I have to steal! And I usually am concentrating on getting more important things, like food!"

Kakashi noticed that fact now that it was mentioned. She was horribly thin. Her rag clothing hung very loosely on her skinny body, and overall, Kakashi could tell she was starving.

"AND FURHTERMORE!" She shouted. " I heard that you can't sense the power of the kyuubi kid from your village until he releases it, so don't you DARE judge my power!"

"Easy, easy." Kakashi said hurriedly. "I wasn't trying to provoke you."

"Hmph." She said. She sat down, still keeping her five feet of distance between them. She never took her eyes off of him though, she just continued to stare. Kakashi found it slightly unnerving, but he didn't say anything. Instead he found something else to fill the growing sticky silence.

"How did you know Naruto-I mean the kyuubi, came from my village? and how do you know what my village even is?"

"I haven't lived in a cave all my life, you nimrod." She responded sourly.

Kakashi fought hard to keep eye contact with her powerfully piercing stare.

"How am I supposed to know where you have lived?" He responded, rather coldly.

"The 'upper class' never knows anything about the minorities. Whatever." She said, and, too Kakashi's great relief, she looked away.

"Come on now, that's hardly fair, I just met you ten minutes ago." Kirana shrugged, and turned to look at him again, but this time a new fire burned within her eyes. She stood up in a rush.

"On to the main event!" She said, pointing at him accusingly. "Let's go!" She cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, not moving an inch.

"You…didn't come to kill me?"

"No." Kakashi said easily. "I'll defend myself if you attack me of course though, but you haven't."

"Well, If you didn't come to kill me, why did you come here?" She asked, her voice filled with suspicion. She backed up another couple of steps and sat down again.

"To learn. I need to learn about you, an discover what I am able to work out between you and that town."

"I don't want anything to do with that pissy little grunt village! They all hate me anyways."

"If a mutual agreement can be made, it will be better for you and the town."

The woman made another hmph sound.

"You think about telling me about yourself, and how you're living right now, and then think if coming to terms with the town would be to your benefit. I'll be back tomorrow with food- and new clothes if I can."

With that, Kakashi stood up and left, leaving behind a very flabbergasted woman.

"Hey, WAIT!"

Kakashi turned around.

She turned and ran to the back wall of the cavern and pulled a lit torch out of the wall. She quickly threw it to him.

"I'm not the only thing that lives down here, you'll want light. And that torch is one of my special ones, it wont go out on its own, and it's reusable."

Kakashi gave her a smile. "Thank you." He said as he started down the passage he had come down.

She watched him disappear down the tunnel until she could no longer see the light from the torch or hear his footsteps.

_yes…he could be the one to take me away form here…_

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howd you guys like it? review and tell me!!


	2. Training

Response to Reviews:

Smile34- Thank you for the review! Always good to know that my work is appreciated

Shadow Demon Kitsune- lol about the tea….it was one of my weirder ideas…anyway thanks for the review and here is an update.

R.K.R- thanks for the review, here the next chapter!

Danielle- thanks for reviewing my story! And thank you for giving me back my manga as well…see you at school!

Jemiul-thanks and here's an update

Saki-kun- thanks for the compliment about my writing style! And thanks for reading my others. Here's an update!

Sara- he might fall in love…he may not…you'll just have to read and see.

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The moment she heard his footsteps coming from down the long stone passage the next afternoon; it was all she could do to stop herself from running to meet him.

She had not had company for a very long time, at least not company that honestly just wanted to talk to her, not…do other things.

When she finally started to see his silhouette in the tunnel, she adorned a bored expression. "So you came back after all." She said in a monotone, while her stomach did summersaults of excitement.

"I said I was going to come, didn't I?" Kakashi responded. He started to rummage through the sack he had been carrying over one shoulder, continuing to talk as he did so.

"What's your name, anyway? I don't think its 'dragon woman'." He pulled out several loaves of bread and some cold chicken.

"N-no I'm Kirana…" She said, eyes fixated on the food.

"I'm Hatake Kakashi." He said, holding out a loaf of bread to her. "Come here and get it." Kakashi said, waving it around a bit. "I know you're hungry."

Kirana inched closer, hunger overcoming caution. She stopped about five feet from him.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Kakashi assured.

Kirana reached forward with trembling, hesitant fingers.

"Take it." He said gently.

With a jolt of speed she swiped it from his hands and scampered back to her comfortable distance of five feet, where she proceeded to wolf it down.

"Have you thought about what I told you yesterday?" Kakashi asked.

Kirana swallowed the last bite with a loud gulp.

"Only a little bit." She lied, eyes still fixated on neat rows of bread and meat he had laid out in front of him.

He noticed her glance. "Help yourself." He said. "Well. What have you decided, you know, about what I said?"

"If you can get something for me out of an 'agreement' with the town, then I really don't care." She said. "But that doesn't mean I have to like those peons."

She once again inched toward the food laid out in front of him.

Kakashi sat cross legged patiently.

"I understand how you could find it hard to trust them after everything they've put you through, but what does the term 'peons' imply?" He asked.

"That's what they are. They work until they can't work anymore and then they die." She said, sharp eyes never leaving the precious rations she was so close to now.

She quickly grabbed some and leaped back.

"You're very cautious. I already promised that I wouldn't hurt you."

Kirana ignored this, choosing to eat instead of answer.

"So, what are you going to do, ninja man? Get a truce worked out and then go back to your cozy little village?" Kirana asked as she finished.

"We'll see. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Only time will tell."

"Would you quit being all philosophical?" Kirana said, her voice slightly rising. She didn't know why she was getting angry, the poor guy hadn't done anything but feed her. This, needless to say, was no crime at all.

Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Wipe that grin off your face!"

"How long has it been, Kirana?" He asked very suddenly. Kirana's anger vanished.

"What?"

"Since you had someone to talk to? How long has it been?"

Kirana thought for a minute. How long had it been, really?

"One year and thirty days, I'm pretty sure, why?"

Kakashi was looking at her with sadness in his eye that pierced Kirana's heart. She wasn't sad, so why was he?

"Who?"

"Um…well, he's probably the last person alive that I really trust and care about, but, he hasn't visited in a long time...work must be busy...But hey! This isn't important!"

Kakashi's expression was now unreadable.

"I suppose not. But, Kirana, doesn't it ever get lonely down here? Just waiting for someone to talk to? Waiting for this person you mentioned? I don't know if I could take it, personally."

Kirana blinked and then glared at him.

Kakashi sighed.

"I'll see what I can work out with the town. You can have the rest of the food, and I'll bring more when I come back." He stood up to leave, beginning to walk toward the exit.

Kirana frowned at his retreating back, and suddenly snarled angrily. She picked up a pebble and hurled it at him, hitting him square between the shoulder blades.

"I don't want your pity!" She yelled.

"Yeah, yeah..." He called from down the hall.

She watched the tunnel he had disappeared down until she could no longer hear his footsteps.

"But even if I don't want your pity...I feel like...I feel like I need you, Kakashi, somehow...I need you...but why?" Kirana asked the silence.

Having nothing better to do, Kirana curled up into bed and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

KashiPOV----------------

After talking to the town leader, Kakashi retreated to the small hotel he was staying in and ate a little meal in silence.

He sighed and collapsed backwards into bed. If only she was beside him...wait...what had he just thought! No, no, no! Kakashi grasped his hair with both hands, trying to force thoughts of him and her out of his head.

"This is not happening!" He said aloud. "Oh this is ridiculous." With a sigh he took off his headband, shirt and shoes, and crawled into bed. He lie on his back staring at the ceiling for a long time before the weight on his eyelids took over.

He woke up in the morning, yawned, stretched, and glanced at the clock. Shit, it was already twelve o'clock and he still had to get clothes for Kirana!

"Better get going..."he said to himself.

Kirana yawned and stretched as well within her cave.

"I should go train today…" She said aloud.

"Really? Are you a ninja?"

Kirana jumped about a foot in the air. She twirled around rather ungracefully to find Kakashi sitting at the edge of her bed, reading a book.

"Where did you come from!" She demanded, scrambling away from him and falling out of bed.

"Hmmm…I just got here. You must not have heard me because you were asleep."

"How long have you watching me!" Kirana asked quickly. She was uncomfortable about the prospect of him watching her sleep, not to mention she had had another nightmare…didn't want him to overhear if she yelled something…

"I just got here, only five minutes ago." He turned a page of his book.

Kirana glared at him, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Anyway." He stood up and picked up a bag that had been at his feet. "Here." He handed it to her.

"I already told you that I do not need your pity." Kirana said, crossing her arms.

"Fine, I don't care if you eat or not, but I'm not taking that back with me, so it's staying here."

Kirana made a mental note to go through it later.

"Well…you said something about training?" Kakashi asked indifferently.

"You can come along if you want, I really don't care." Inside Kirana was begging him to come. "Though I'll probably be training until dark…you might not want to stay the whole time…"

"I have nothing better to do…I'll bring lunch."

"Mmm…" Kirana didn't like the sound of that…sounded like pity…

"I'm sharing food with you because you happen to be there. It isn't pity."

"Alright…" She consented. _I'll be too hungry to refuse anyway…_

"So uh, where do you train? In here?" He made a gesture that referred to the cave.

"Hell no dimwit, I'd wreck my beautiful cave, follow me." She grabbed his hand and began dragging him down another tunnel.

"Where are you taking me?" Kakashi asked, gently removing himself from her grip.

"You'll like it. It's pretty." She sounded…happy. Kakashi felt that she as really excited about showing him whatever it was she was about to show him.

"Hurry up!" She called from a few yards ahead. Light was streaming in through the mouth of a tunnel.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…"He came up beside her and looked out over the view. "Whoa…"

"Told you that you'd like it!" She said, with a rather childish grin set on her face.

It was indeed an amazing sight. They must have been on the opposite end of the mountain, but in a tiny enclosed valley.

A waterfall cascaded into a clear pool of water, and surrounding all this was tall grass.

"So now I train." She gave him a smile and climbed to the top of the waterfall.

Kakashi looked on with mild interest. _What's she…_ At that exact moment, Kirana dived.

"LOOK OUT! THERE'S ROCKS!" He shouted. He wouldn't be able to get to her in time, and if she hit one of those rocks. He shut his eyes, expecting to hear the crunch of bones on rock any minute…

But no sound came….just the continuous thunder of the waterfall.

"Hey, what's the matter? Bug in your eye?" Kirana was standing at her customary five feet away from him.

"But…the rocks! Why didn't you hit the rocks!"

"Yes, that's the point! You have to miss the rocks. Works on your aim, you see. And strength as well, you have to fling quite far to miss them." Kirana said in a matter of fact way. "Do you want to try?"

"I think I'll just watch you…"

Kirana smiled at him. "Suit yourself. You wouldn't happen to have any shampoo, would you?"

"There's a bit where I'm staying in town. I don't mind sharing with you."

"Thanks!" She climbed up the waterfall again and stared down at him. "But only as long as I don't have to go into town to get it."

"You know, if you continue to hate them, things can never be made right between you."

"Tell that to them!" Kirana shouted as she dived. She pierced the water between two large hunks of bedrock with a small splash.

She swam down to the very bottom and sat there in the freezing cold water. This was a test of endurance: how long she could hold her breath, along with how long she could endure the freezing cold.

After a couple minutes, Kirana commanded her numb body to swim toward the surface. As she neared the top, a hand pierced the water and pulled her out by her upper forearm.

She found herself lying on one of the protruding rocks, Kakashi kneeling over her.

"Are you all right?" He asked. Kirana silently noted how close he was to her.

"I'm fine! That was a training exercise! I wasn't drowning! No one gave you permission to touch me!"

"Well, excuse me for trying to save your life! Next time I won't, when you really need it!"

"I don't need you _or_ your fucking pity!"

"Then I'll just leave!" Kakashi was surprised at how angry he was getting.

"You do that!" She punched him in the stomach, sending him cascading into the river. Kirana spat into the high current water and jumped away, back to her room, but not before she had grabbed the bag Kakashi brought.

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Well…that's all for this chapter…Review and tell me what you thought! Thanks! 


	3. Agreement

Ah! Okay, so the reason this chapter is so short is because this chapter and the last one was originally all one chapter, but I wanted to update something so badly last time that I cut it into two pieces. And that's the story.

Thanks again all reviewers!

Chapter 3Agreement

Kirana retreated to the back room. No light ever got back here, so it suited her mood perfectly. She had overreacted, she knew she had, but she couldn't just take back what had already been done…Tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

"Kirana?" It was Kakashi, calling from the main chamber. She didn't answer.

"I'm sorry, Kirana. Come out from wherever you're hiding and we can talk about it."

She slammed her fist down on the floor, but she knew he wouldn't hear. Kirana just couldn't figure out why she had gone ballistic on him! He hadn't done anything wrong!

"Okay fine, I'll leave. Sayonara, Kirana." She could hear his retreating footsteps.

Kirana hugged her knees to her chest. He was leaving…her new _friend _was leaving. Kirana only had one other person she considered a friend…Her instincts screamed at her to go after Kakashi, but her stubborn legs refused to move.

Uncalled for, a memory from her past resurfaced itself.

'Don't be such a baby, Kirana! If you really care about something, then don't be afraid to fight and die for that something! Don't let it slip through your fingers!' It was something that her sister had told her, a long time ago…

Kirana wiped her eyes in anger. Her sister was right; she had to stop being such a baby. Not quite sure what she was going to do once she caught up to him, Kirana raced out of the room, through the main chamber, and down the tunnel she knew Kakashi would have taken back to the town.

She was now starting to hear his footsteps, tapping louder and louder as she neared him.

_I gotta hurry! Soon I'll be outside, and that's not good. Too close to the town for comfort!_

"Kakashi!" She yelled.

His footsteps came to a sudden halt; Kirana was starting to see his outline.

"Kirana?" He turned around. "What are you-"Kirana flying tackled him, taking him to the ground.

"I'm sorry Kakashi! You hadn't done anything wrong! Please forgive me! You've been so kind!"

There was a moment of quiet, and then Kakashi sat up straight. Kirana, figuring she had been too late, looked down, defeated.

Kakashi angled her face towards his.

"You've been crying…" He stated bluntly.

"Um…" She fumbled with words, but Kakashi placed a finger over her lips.

"Don't bother explaining, I think I get it. But it can wait till we're back in the main chamber." He scooped Kirana into his arms and started the journey back. She was about to yell at him about this, but decided against it, instead snuggling into his arms and closing her eyes.

All too soon, Kakashi had deposited her onto her bed.

"Sit there while I tell you what I've observed about you so far. Then you can listen to my proposition."

"Observed…about me?"

"Remember when I told you I was here to learn about you? Well this is what I've got so far." He took a deep breath. "You're lonely. Except for that one guy you mentioned, you're always alone. You want human company and someone to talk to, and a life. But at the same time, people have mistreated and shunned you, and that's why you're reluctant to trust me."

Kirana blinked in surprise.

"I'm not sure what to say."

"Don't say anything." He curled his hand around hers. "Come back to Konoha with me. You'll be much happier there."

"Konohagakure village…" Kirana smiled. "That's your proposition, is it? Well, what would happen once I got there? I had friends in Konoha once, long ago, but they are all dead now. I would _still_ be alone."

"You could stay with me. I would protect you, and I have a feeling you have abilities you aren't telling me about, so maybe you'll even end up a ninja. I would think anywhere is better than here, Kirana." He said with a smile.

"Stay with you…?"

"Sure."

"Okay then." A lot of memories she didn't want to face resided in Konoha, and staying with Kakashi would help take her mind off them.

She smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown when she stared into his dark visible eye. He reached over and stroked her cheek, brushing the stray hair away. Somehow, as if attracted magnetically, they leaned closer; Kirana mimicked him and stroked his masked face.

Painfully slowly, they shortened the distance between their faces even more.

His covered lips were just brushing hers when they seemed to become aware of the situation. She shoved him away in a hurry.

"Sorry." She murmured, rolling over in bed. Kakashi must have decided to let it drop, because he didn't respond, instead deciding to retreat to a corner, away from Kirana. He curled up on the floor, troubled.

He couldn't believe himself Kissing Kirana had not been what either of them needed. What a terrible mistake on his part; he would consider himself very lucky if she ever came to trust him again.

ha ha... told you it was short! Sorry…Next chapter will be longer, authors promise.

Anyway, R&R or die!

The last few paragraphs are really poorly done, I know…please forgive me…


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